Monday
We spent roughly 24 hours in Grand Teton, and we were really amazed at the sights in the park. First of all, the mountains are amazingly picturesque and can be seen from just about anywhere in the park.
views from the north and south of the park
Additionally, the park has quite a few aspens, and they were in full fall color (unlike Yellowstone which was mostly pine trees).
We drove south along Teton Park road, which started with lots of sagebrush and views around every corner.
Jenny Lake wasn’t far away, and the water looked beautiful.
On the southern end of the park we stopped at the Chapel of the Transfiguration, which has one of the best views possible.
Since we were close, we headed into the town of Jackson for a late lunch at Snake River Brewing – I tried La Serpent Cerise and the bison burger, which together made a perfect late lunch. Leandra went for the the zonker stout and the sausage sampler – elk was her fave, followed by the pork. The brewery had lots of cool features, including personalized tiles in and around the bathroom, as well as lots of stickers outside. Also nice was the access to wifi, as our phones hadn’t connected to anything in several days.
On the way back to the park we were surprised that rangers weren’t checking for park passes at the entrance. We made several stops along the Snake River, including Schwabachers Landing.
Our room for the night was a one-room cabin with DBL bed in Colter Bay Village – an actual log cabin that was quite basic, but given the beauty around us we didn’t really mind.
Tuesday
I knew the mountains would look lovely at sunrise, so we got an early start, and were not disappointed by our choice. As a bonus we saw several herds of elk on the plain, and heard plenty of bugling too.
Oxbow bend had brilliant color in the sunrise light.
With the sun now up we drove up Signal mountain, which rises several hundred feet above the river plain. Along the way we saw several animals including deer, elk, grouse and a chipmunk harvesting seeds.
Hungry after a few hours awake, we stopped in to the Mural Room @ Jackson Lake Lodge – Breakfast with a view! We scooted in at 9:15a, 15 minutes before they stop serving, and were quite glad to partake in their breakfast buffet. The waffles were especially memorable, made to order with a fixings bar that had nuts, chocolate, fruit and other toppings ready to go. Paired with the beautiful view and free wifi this became our most memorable meal of the trip.
We really enjoyed our time in Grand Teton park, and we wished we had more time there. However, we needed to be in Bozeman for the evening, so after breakfast we started our trip north to explore the eastern and northern parts of Yellowstone.